Industrial Ph.D. Programs for the Strengthening of the Industry's Production of Innovation in Colombia

Abstract

Today's firms face a new global economy powered by knowledge rather than physical resources and natural raw materials. Universities are crucial actors in ensuring economic development, not only by training highly qualified human capital, but also by producing new knowledge with innovation potential. University–industry research collaborations (UICs) have been increasingly recognized as an innovation mode. Highly qualified people, mainly at Ph.D. level, are fundamental for the increase of the knowledge pool from which firms and society as a whole can benefit in terms of the production of innovation. The demand for more specialized researchers in business/industry has led to new versions of doctoral programs, such as Industrial Ph.D. Programs (IPPs), which are well-established in a number of countries. After using an analytical international and comparative education methodology, we have found that the cooperation with industry to develop Ph.D. programs in Colombia is relatively weak and requires to be enhanced. In this paper, we argue for the alignment of the so-called third academic mission of economic development with the traditional academic missions of teaching and research through the implementation of IPPs as a mechanism for strengthening the innovation process of firms and country's economic growth.

Preferencias de empleo de las estudiantes de doctorado en Ingeniería

“…También señalan que los estudiantes de doctorado, por lo menos en el área de ingeniería, tienen una fuerte inclinación por la academia: tan solo 2 estudiantes de 10 mencionaron tener interés en trabajar en la industria (Celis et al, 2012). De ahí la importancia de introducir los programas de doctorado para la industria que, tal como muestra la evidencia, impactan las preferencias de empleo de los estudiantes hacia la industria como destino laboral (Celis & Acosta, 2016;Celis & Duque, 2013).…”

Employer, industry and policymaker views on doctorate education

“…The introduction of interdisciplinary and intersectoral doctoral programmes aims to tackle these past criticisms of overspecialization and isolation by placing doctoral graduates in new environments where they must learn to adapt and work in complex teams thus better preparing them for the future work environment (Cardoso et al, 2019;Celis & Acosta, 2016;Cui & Harshman, 2020;Germain-Alamartine & Moghadam-Saman, 2020;Patricio & Santos, 2019) be it in industry or indeed in academia.…”

“…Today, unique skills and knowledge are key drivers in innovation, as opposed to their material counterparts of the past such as land and labour capital (Celis & Acosta, 2016). Policymakers such as the European Union acknowledge this shift, and thus have set out strategies for skills and knowledge attainment towards an overall increase competitiveness in the global market (Haapakorpi, 2017).…”

Born or made - Can interdisciplinary and intersectoral doctorate education create institutional entrepreneurs? A systematic review

“…Recently this perspective has shifted to include a new role of intersectoral collaboration and knowledge sharing (Cardoso et al, 2019) increasing pressure to contribute to innovation and industrial competitiveness (Haapakorpi, 2017). The doctorate, despite being the highest form of educational attainment, has faced criticism for its incompatibility with demands of the modern workplace (Celis and Acosta, 2016). Missing transferable skills, overspecialization and a lack of real-world experience and practical knowledge have all been identified as issues with traditional doctorate programs (Cui and Harshman, 2020).…”

“…This differs from the traditional isolation of the student within doctoral education, instead focusing on collaboration and boundary-spanning (Balleisen and Wisdom, 2018). The second approach is intersectorality, or industrial PhDs, encouraged by governmental innovation policies linking industry and education (Celis and Acosta, 2016). The student typically takes on dual roles of researcher and practitioner with research relevant to both academia and industry (Cardoso et al, 2019).…”